University of Chicago

Outlier Research & Evaluation, housed at UChicago STEM Education, is a cross-disciplinary, diverse team committed to applied research and evaluation that directly informs educators and policymakers. Outlier will work with the Broward County Public Schools to help educators support critical thinking by having students consider alternate points of view, support statements with evidence, and communicate their thought processes to others. This work will present a replicable model that other districts and states can follow, while also introducing new theories about the spread of innovative practices. (Substrategy: District Deep Dives and Networks)

The mission of the University of Chicago Consortium on School Research is to conduct research of high technical quality that can inform and assess policy and practice in the Chicago Public Schools. The consortium seeks to expand communication among researchers, policymakers, and practitioners in support of the search for solutions to school reform problems. This grant will support a study on the grades earned by girls and boys in ninth-grade math across the Chicago Public Schools. Initial research has found that girls earn substantially better letter grades; further research will seek to understand why and identify remedies to improve math performance among boys.